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Anything But A Gentleman
reissued as
The Earl Next Door
A Regency romance
  Amazon US Amazon UK
Synopsis
When her brother goes missing in the winter of 1793, Marianne Travis blames Luke, Lord Ravensford, a man who is anything but a gentleman. But when Lord Ravensford rents the neighbouring estate, Marianne begins to realize that Luke is more than he seems. He holds the key to her brother's survival, and she must join forces with him if she wants to see her brother alive again. But as her feelings for Luke grow, will they ever be returned?
 Extract
There was a flash of light and a loud retort, and -
'Luke!' Forgetting everything else, Marianne ran over to him, her hair streaming in the wind, kneeling down beside him, hardly seeing him through sudden, useless, tears. She wiped them away angrily and looked at the red patch steadily growing on the arm of his shirt.
'Thank God,' she sobbed as two of the crew overpowered the Frenchman. 'It's just his shoulder. Oh, thank God.'
Biting back her tears she set to work. 'The bullet's gone straight through, but he's losing a lot of blood.' She stanched it with her fichu, which she rapidly unfastened from around her neck, and then said, 'Carry him down to the cabin,' to Henri and Figgs.
They nodded and obeyed her, carrying him down to the cabin and laying him on one of the bunks.
'Luckily it's only a flesh wound,' said Marianne, examining his shoulder with deft hands.
'Here,' she said, giving him some drops of laudanum, 'this is for the pain.' Then, working quickly and efficiently, she cleaned the wound before binding it tightly.
Lord Ravensford, who had endured this with closed eyes, now opened them again. Despite his pain there was the ghost of a smile playing round his lips. She smiled in return, a smile of relief, and stroked his brow with her hand. 'I don't know what you have to smile about,' she said gently, hoping to make him feel better by treating the matter lightly and teasing him, although she was shaking inside in reaction to events.
'Don't you?' He looked straight into her eyes and gave a satisfied smile. 'You called me Luke.'
Their eyes locked, and there was a moment of complete understanding between them. It was as though all the barriers had been removed, and they communed on some deep level where words were of no importance. Then, leaning forward, she kissed him on his forehead.
'It seems you were right to come along,' he said, watching her with smiling eyes.
'Oh, Luke! If I hadn't come you wouldn't have been shot.'
'It was worth getting shot, just to hear you use my name.'
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